Eight more arrests in home burglaries

11 suspects facing charges in series

Sheriff’s Sgt. Russ Shimmin led one of eight people arrested yesterday into the Santee station. They are believed to be responsible for residential burglaries in Santee that netted property worth $50,000.
— Debbi Baker / Union-Tribune

Sheriff’s Sgt. Russ Shimmin led one of eight people arrested yesterday into the Santee station. They are believed to be responsible for residential burglaries in Santee that netted property worth $50,000.
— Debbi Baker / Union-Tribune

Sheriff’s Sgt. Russ Shimmin led one of eight people arrested yesterday into the Santee station. They are believed to be responsible for residential burglaries in Santee that netted property worth $50,000. Debbi Baker / Union-Tribune

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Sheriff’s Sgt. Russ Shimmin led one of eight people arrested yesterday into the Santee station. They are believed to be responsible for residential burglaries in Santee that netted property worth $50,000. Debbi Baker / Union-Tribune

For months, they were ripping off their neighbors in daytime burglaries and selling the stash for drugs, authorities said.

Sheriff’s deputies arrested eight people in Santee yesterday morning believed to be responsible for a series of thefts that netted jewelry and other property worth $50,000.

Five men ranging in age from 18 to 21, a 19-year-old woman and two 17-year-old boys were picked up from homes in the northern part of the city, sheriff’s Sgt. Tom Poulin said. Three 17-year-old boys, also believed to be part of the ring, were arrested previously.

“They were stealing from people who live next door to them,” Poulin said. “They were stealing from their friends’ parents.”

Ann Leap, who has lived in Santee for more than 20 years, said her family was one of the victims. The burglars entered her home through an unlocked door during the day and stole several items including video games, an X Box and two cell phones.

The family wasn’t going to report the crime until they heard that others had also been victimized. she said.

Leap said she felt it was her fault for not locking the door. The fact that someone had been inside her house made her feel vulnerable and unsettled, she said.

Her 22-year-old son, Justin, said he knows two of the men arrested and isn’t surprised. “They’re those kinds of kids,” he said, adding that people had been talking about the burglaries, but no one knew for sure who was involved.

Teams of deputies armed with search warrants knocked on the doors of six Santee homes simultaneously about 6 a.m. yesterday.

At one home they used a crowbar to pry off a security door and then broke the front door to get in. Deputies recovered some stolen property and at two places found heroin, drug paraphernalia and packaging material, Poulin said.

Detectives believe that the ring members, who had all gone to Santana High School together, have committed at least 20 daytime residential burglaries since June within their own neighborhoods and may have attempted one more just days ago.

They entered the homes primarily through unlocked doors, but also broke some windows to get inside, Poulin said.

Class rings, Tiffany bracelets, diamond rings, video game consoles, cameras, phones and other items were taken. One victim reported that she had $14,000 in jewelry stolen.

The thieves would sell the goods to pawnshops in East County or to jewelry kiosks at Parkway Plaza in El Cajon, Poulin said. One sold 64 pieces of jewelry for $1,400, he said.

The three teenagers who were arrested previously were in a car that was pulled over by a deputy who discovered stolen property inside.

The boys later confessed that they had buried some stolen items in the dirt lot of a movie theater. That property was recovered, Poulin said. Other items have been returned to the victims, but several pieces of jewelry were sold to stores that melt it down, Poulin said.

Detectives think three or four members of the group committed the burglaries while the others sold the goods, all to buy drugs, Poulin said.

The 11 suspects could face charges including burglary, receiving stolen property, conspiracy and drug charges, including possession with intent to sell.

Poulin credited sheriff’s Detective Brian Patterson with pulling the case together in the three-month-long investigation.

“He put all the pieces and players together,” Poulin said.

He said the break-ins were causing great concern among residents.

“To make such a significant number of arrests in a small area has to make a huge difference in those neighborhoods,” he said.

Ann Leap said she’s happy that the Sheriff’s Department has taken suspects into custody, although she still finds it hard to believe that so many burglaries were happening so close by.